


Blades Never Hurt Their Own (Unless You Hurt Their Kit)

by moretrash



Series: Dads of Marmora [55]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bullying, Dads of Marmora (Voltron), Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Hurt/Comfort, Lance (Voltron) is a Good Boyfriend, Like always in my stories lmao, Regris is a Good Brother, cuddle piles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-10-20 07:23:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20671514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moretrash/pseuds/moretrash
Summary: Keith had already woken up on the wrong side of the bed. With any luck, his bad mood was to be turned around with a visit from the paladins that had been planned for a while.However, nothing can ever be that easy, can it?





	Blades Never Hurt Their Own (Unless You Hurt Their Kit)

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: 
> 
> "What if the bigger Galra that cornered Keith made a friend who thought the same as him but didn't listen to his warning of the Blades and decides to pick on Keith, on a day where he's grumpy and the paladins are there???"

“Come on, kit, cheer up! Your friends are coming over!” Thace said brightly, gently poking Keith’s cheek. Keith batted irritably at Thace with a small, uncharacteristic hiss, frowning.

Keith had woken up on the wrong side of the bed, which was nothing bad, necessarily; everyone had bad days sometimes, and that was okay. Kolivan just made a note to warn the paladins of Keith’s irritable mood, to avoid any tension. However, he knew that Keith would likely relax when his friends were there, just wanting to lounge in the nest all day. And that was okay.

“Alright, you just lay there, okay? I will return with your breakfast.” Ulaz said, getting up from his spot. He knew that Keith would likely snap at other blades if they were irritating him, and Keith would inevitably feel awful when he was in a better mood. It was better to just let him stay in the nest at the end of the day, to spare everyone feeling and give Keith some much-needed alone time.

-

Keith had just finished with his breakfast when Kolivan arrived with the paladins in tow. They all crowded around Keith, smiling and talking although it was becoming quickly apparent that Keith was not in the mood for such excitement, the scowl on his face only growing with every minute.

“Hey, what's wrong, sweetheart?” Lance asked quietly, his voice dropping in volume and become much gentler. Keith shrugged and tucked himself into Lance's side, his ears flicking lightly and his tail thumping against the blankets. Though, Lance couldn't tell whether it was out of irritation or excitement or, more likely, a mix of both. Lance just smiled and wrapped an arm around him, gently massaging his ears so he can relax. 

“The kit woke up uh…” Thace glanced at Krolia, clearly not remembering the Earth phrase she had told him earlier.

“I believe the phrase is “woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” He will be in a mood of sorts all day although it will likely lighten up due to your presence.” Krolia spoke up.

“Oh. Well, that's okay, he can just cuddle us.” Hunk said, smiling when Keith started to lightly groom him. “Aww, cutie.” He said affectionately, patting his head.

“He is, is he not?” Kolivan, ever the proud father, agreed. Keith huffed but remained silent for the most part, tickling Shiro's side with his tail and smirking when the man failed to hold back his giggling.

“Keith, stop!” Shiro shouted, although it was ruined by his giggling. Keith just laughed and relented, curling up against his older brother figure. “How have you been?” Shiro asked gently, his arm coming to wrap around him protectively.

“Good. Been napping a lot.” Keith answered quietly, beginning to groom Shiro's hair. “Stay still, please.” He said when Shiro turned to look at him in confusion.

“Alright then, if you insist, buddy.” Shiro said with a smile, relaxing into the nest. Pidge smiled and lightly scratched at Keith’s ears, laughing when Keith grinned and began to purr loudly, melting into the touch. Pidge had always had an odd obsession with his ears since he had gained Galra features, which he supposed was expected from them since they were a nerd for anything non-human.

Regris came over and smiled, nosing affectionately at Pidge’s hair. The pair had hit if off right away and were amazing friends, mostly due to their shared love of coding and technology.

“Has the green lion stopped being stubborn?” He asked.

“Yeah. She was being all stubborn for so long, turns out she had something stuck in her paw and it was messing with her, silly girl.” Pidge said. “Some sort of debris got caught in the claw, so she didn’t want to move.”

“Oh, the poor thing. I hope she is doing better now.” Regris said.

“She’s doing a lot better now.” Pidge said. “She’s playful and just herself again, so that’s good.” 

Regris moved over to nose affectionately at Lance, jumping when Keith growled possessively.

“Kit, I understand that you may be in an odd mood today, but that is no excuse to growl at any member of your pack.” Antok said. Keith whined like a scolded puppy.

“Sorry.” He said quietly.

“Oh, its okay, bro. I know you’re pretty protective of your mate.” Regris said. Keith smiled knowingly; Regris was in the process of trying to court another blade at headquarters, and it seemed that the other blade was very receptive of the small gifts Regris always left.

“How are things going with Verikke?” He asked. Regris turned bashful, rubbing his arm with a smile.

“They have been very receptive of my courting efforts thus far. If all goes well, they will seek me out to accept my courting efforts in traditional Galran fashion.” Regris said.

“I’m sorry, courting?” Hunk asked curiously.

“Oh, yes, courting! It has become less common in recent decapheobes, but it is the traditional fashion of pursuing a potential mate. Traditionally, the one doing the courting will leave small gifts of some sort for the courted. If the courted Galra accepts, they will seek out the one doing the courting to accept the proposal. As a whole, it is getting less common, but Verikke comes from a very traditionally-minded planet so Regris has chosen to use the traditional courting method.” Kolivan answered. 

“Oh! Well, good luck! I’m sure they’ll love the gifts you’re giving them.” Hunk said.

“Thank you. I do hope they will accept my courtship offers.” He said.

-

“Come on, let’s go get lunch. Then I can show you guys the basking room!” Keith said. As his pack had predicted, he was in a better mood as a result of being around his closest friends.

“Alright, calm down, buddy.” Shiro said gently. “We’re coming. You need to let us know what to eat, though. We don’t know what most of this is.” He said, looking around at the buffet of food. Although he recognized some of the foods from previous visits, he couldn’t put a name to any of them for the life of him.

“Yeah, yeah. I mean, all of the meat is really good, and the veggies… well, anything’s good really.” Keith said, grabbing his plate and beginning to pile it with food. He huffed when Antok lightly hit his arm with his tail and gestured critically to his plate, prompting Keith to sigh and put the multiple sweets back and saving only one. It was rare that he could get away with eating so many sweets, but he wasn’t necessarily put off by it at all. In fact, it made him feel loved and appreciated in the way most actions his pack did made him.

“Good.” Ulaz said brightly, moving to sit down with Thace. Thace turned into a domestic mess, curling around Ulaz and purring loudly. Another doctor smiled and lightly smacked Ulaz’s back.

“Looks like you’ve got yourself one very affectionate mate today, Ulaz.” She said.

“Indeed, but I would not ask for anything else. I very much enjoy my mate’s cuddly moods.” Ulaz said brightly, burying his face in Thace’s fur.

“Ugh, even we are not so domestic.” Kolivan said teasingly.

“I beg to differ. Was it not just last movement that you tried to cook dinner together and ended up dancing together in the kitchen instead?” Thace argued playfully. Antok smirked and wrapped his tail around Kolivan’s waist.

“Indeed, Koli. Besides, we are very domestic.” Antok said brightly.

“Dad, Pa, stop arguing over how you’re more or less domestic.” Acxa said, sitting down with a shake of her head, smiling widely as she began to dig into her food..

“I think its cute.” Lance said, feeding Keith a bite of his food and smiling when Keith did the same to him. Keith had his tail wrapped tightly around his mate’s waist, smiling and purring as he rested against Lance’s shoulder.

“Yeah, you don’t have to deal with their mushy domestic affection every day.” Keith said.

“You say that like you and Lance aren’t disgustingly domestic too.” Pidge pointed out with a smile. 

The group had to claim a larger table than they normally did to account for the new arrivals that were visiting. The group that had previously sat there looked a bit put-out even though their pack size allowed them to comfortably sit at the table Keith’s pack usually occupied. Kolivan knew, however, that the put-out look was because for all the blades, the place they sat at in the dining hall was special, a small but very important part of their lives. Most of the time, the members of a pack would always sit in the same place as well, and it would feel odd to a pack if people were sitting out of order. 

“This arrangement is temporary, I assure you.” Kolivan told the leader of the pack.

“It is no problem, leader.” The leader said politely, although Kolivan knew it was bothering them greatly.

“We will be okay with this table for today, leader.” Darva said tightly. Although he wasn’t the leader of the pack, he seemed close to it, and it worried Kolivan. Darva was known for being rough and rude to the kits, and he hoped any anger towards the pack was not taken out on Acxa, Regris, or Keith. Or, heavens forbid, any of the paladins. If that were the case, he had no doubt that blood would be shed, regardless of their pact to never injure one of their own. 

Antok twitched uncomfortably, crowding his kits closer to him to protect them from any potential threat. Keith tucked himself into a ball against Antok's side, purring quietly. He wasn't a fan of Darva, although, in a way, he was the reason Regris had joined their pack, the reason why he had such a great big brother.

Regris whined and grumbled to Antok, not at all liking Darva being anywhere near his pack. He was at the age where one was developing more of an instinct to protect their pack, and often one of the adults would have to prevent him from harming anyone he deemed as a threat. None of the blades really took his threats seriously, all having been in the same place at some point or another in their lives. They just calmly explained that they were not intending to harm his pack despite being in the same hallway, and send him on his way with an understanding smile.

Acxa looked confused at the action. She had never had many encounters with Darva, and always from a distance. Mostly because her pack had taken care to keep her away from him. "Mama?" She asked worriedly, concerned that something bad was happening.

"Hey, no worrying needed, my daughter. Just some men who are means to kits is all." Krolia assured gently. She had her eyes on the paladins, although she knew they could likely knock Darva clean off his feet in two ticks flat.

"Yeah, um… that's not good, I'm assuming." Hunk said.

"No, it is not." Ulaz agreed quietly. "But Darva has always been that way. He is not a big fan of kits." He said as the group walked away.

"Well, I don't see how that is a problem. I mean, lots of humans don't really like kids and choose not to have them." Shiro said.

"Ah, indeed, that is the same with Galra. Those who do not enjoy kits choose not to have them, but they also do not harm others' kits. Unfortunately, Darva does not exactly have the capability to not mess with our kits." Kolivan explained. Shiro frowned lightly.

"That sucks." He said quietly.

"Indeed it does. Now, eat, kits." Thace urged, pushing their plates closer to their owners. Keith, who had already finished his meal, quietly excused himself from the table and walked out of the dining hall. Lance moved to follow him, only to be stopped by a gentle hand on his elbow.

"Leave it, young one. On days like this, Keith needs some alone time." Krolia said gently. 

"He's my mate though." Lance protested helplessly.

"I am aware. But he does need his alone time. Trust me, he will seek us out when he is ready. He will seek you out when he is ready." Krolia reassured. Lance nodded and slumped in defeat.

-

When the remaining pack and paladins returned to the nest, Keith was nowhere to be found.

"That is to be expected. He is likely in his personal nest." Antok said. "Though, I really should message my colleagues just in case he is in the training rooms." He added thoughtfully, picking up his datapad to do just that.

"Is he going to be okay?" Hunk asked. "This isn't like some Galra illness?"

"He will be fine, kit. He is simply in a mood. We will talk to him what about what exactly caused it later. This happens sometimes, and it is okay." Thace said, ruffling Hunk's hair affectionately. "In the meantime, I can certainly show you how to cook some traditional Galran desserts if you would like."

"Ooo! I would love that!" Hunk said excitedly, following Thace in the direction of the kitchens.

"Pidge, wanna come see some new bots I'm working on?" Regris offered, laughing when Pidge climbed onto his back.

"Onward, my valiant steed!" They said as Regris started off in the direction of the main engineering room where all of his projects were held when he wasn't working on them.

"Well, then. Shall we wait in the nest for Keith to return?" Krolia suggested, wrapping an arm around Acxa. Shiro nodded.

"Yeah, I think that'll be best. Lance, you know anything about how to comfort a Galra?" He asked. Lance shrugged.

"I mean, I usually just cuddle the sadness out of Keith, but I don't think he'll be in the mood for any intense cuddling today." Lance said with a shrug.

"Sometimes, Keith does not need comfort, in a way. He may only need to know that we are there if he does need to come to us for comfort. Which of course, we always are, but sometimes he just needs to be reminded of that." Ulaz said quietly, herding the remains of his pack to the nest room.

-

Keith just needed some time alone, that was all. Some time to walk around and clear his head. While he was walking, he was stopped by blades asking if he needed assistance. At some point in time, it would have felt stifling, but now it felt comforting know that they wanted to help.

Keith sighed quietly as he made his way to someplace to relax. On his way, he heard heavy footsteps from behind him and turned around, freezing up at who he faced.

Darva was standing there, with the leader of his pack whose name Keith didn't know nor did he particularly care about. Keith generally tried make acquaintances with every blade he encountered, if not friends. The large majority of blades loved him, but Darva and his pack did not.

"Aww, did the kit get lost?" The pack leader said, his voice a high-pitched mocking voice. Keith chose not to dignify it with a response.

"Don't be like that. The least you can do is talk to us after your pack so rudely stole our table." Darva said.

"We did not steal it. You are going to be able to sit there again tomorrow. Now go away. You stink, I assume you didn't clean after training. Even I know to do that, and I'm a kit." Keith said. Perhaps he was being a bit rude, but it was fun. Darva growled at him and Keith froze.

Darva took Keith's unmoving state as an opportunity, shoving the kit against the wall. It wasn't really a fair fight; Keith was a valiant fighter, but he was pinned by someone nearly triple his size and ten times as strong. He had a clear disadvantage and he knew it.

"You were taken in out of pity, you know. They pitied that a poor hybrid kit had no parents to speak of, no pack to speak of." Darva said.

"Krolia is my parent. She's my mom." Keith argued. Darva laughed.

"Indeed she is. But she was not around when you were part of your pack. She did not want such a puny hybrid of a child." The pack leader said.

"You're lying. Mom loves me, she was undercover." He protested, fighting with all his might to get away from the hands pinning him to the wall. Darva just chuckled mockingly, lining Keith's shoulder so tightly to the wall that Keith already knew there would be a bruise.

-

Regris was walking back from the main engineering room with Pidge. The room itself was where the less important or unclassified projects were kept until they were eventually worked on. Pidge was walking alongside Regris this time instead of on his back, as the two were pretty deep in conversation.

They rounded a corner, and Regris threw out an arm to keep Pidge from walking forward, the smallest paladin making a small "oof" sound as they walked straight into his arm. Regris growled slowly at the sight of Darva pinning his little brother, darting forward and leaping onto Darva's back.

Would it have been more logical to go get a larger Galra, like Antok? Sure, but Regris was not going to stand around and let Keith be picked on any longer. In fact, Pidge was already running off, likely to ho fetch a member of Keith's pack to help. No matter how strong they were, Pidge would be crushed by Darva in two seconds flat and they knew it.

Darva growled aggressively at Regris, claws digging into the kit's side as he tried to pry him off of his back. Regris yelped at the feeling and kicked at Darva in retaliation, growling quietly.

After a few minutes of struggle, Regris grinned when he heard the protective growls of his pack. He was lifted off of Darva's back and settled into Thace's arms, the man stepping back so they wouldn't get harmed if any violence happened. He rumbled soothingly to Regris, nuzzling the top of his head.

Antok pulled Darva away from Keith, growling loudly. It was odd, but totally so; Antok was, in general, a gentle giant to anyone at the base, but anyone who hurt his pack was subject to his wrath. He pinned Darva to the wall, speaking to him in Galran, too fast for Keith to pick up any words. But, from the way Thace gasped and covered Regris' ears, they certainly weren't savory words. Krolia reached forward and pulled Keith into her arms, tumbling soothingly and rubbing his back.

"You are okay, my kit. Did he hurt you?" Krolia asked gently, searching her youngest kit for any scratches or bruises. She growled slowly when she saw the forming bruise at Keith's shoulder, leading him away from the argument and to the nest room once again.

-

Keith was bombarded by the paladins when he entered the guest room, all of his friends concerned about him. Lance didn't hesitate to pull him close and hold him tightly, letting Keith relax in his embrace. Hunk reached out and gently rubbed behind Keith's ear, frowning.

"Gee, dude, you okay? That's a nasty bruise on your shoulder." Hunk said worriedly, gently pulling down the collar to examine it. He prodded lightly at it, earning a wince from Keith. "Sorry, sorry! I bet Ulaz is gonna wanna get that fixed." Hunk said, righting Keith's shirt for him and hugging him tightly.

"That's for sure. Wanna tell us what happened? It's okay if you don't, we know you're having a bad day." Shiro said, sitting next to Keith and rubbing his back.

"Another blade pinned me to a wall. He's done it before, don't worry-" that statement only made the paladins look more worried than before, "-it just hurt a little."

"Buddy, you don't have to put up with that. Come on, lay down with us." Shiro said, urging Keith to lay down. The moment Keith relented and settled down, Lance curled around him protectively, letting Keith be the little spoon at the time. Hunk settled down nearby, massaging behind Keith's ears to hear his pleased purring. Pidge laid down near their feet, taking the opportunity to tickle Lance's bare feet and hear him shriek with laughter, begging them to stop. Shiro laid down on the other side of Keith, a silent and comforting presence.

"Go to sleep, baby. We'll be here when you wake up." Lance said quietly, rubbing Keith's back with a soft, fond smile on his face that earned a teasing quip from Pidge about the two of them needing to get a room.

-

When the rest of Keith's pack returned, they were pleased to find all of the paladins fast asleep around the youngest kit, curled in his mate's arms like it was the safest place in the universe. Ulaz smiled and grabbed several blankets, draping them over the sleeping pile of paladins.

"Sleep well, kits." He said quietly, sitting down and chuckling when Acxa and Regris came over, listening to his stories of the medical bay. Of course, he didn't say anything about the patients he or other doctors treated, because he strongly believed in doctor-patient confidentiality, but he did tell the kits about the time a newbie doctor had mixed up two similar-looking medications while doing inventory and ended up switching their spots in storage, among other little tales.

Thace curled up next to his mate, smiling fondly as Ulaz talked to the two kits.

Antok and Kolivan went down to the kitchen to refill their snack box, finding protein bars that all of them enjoyed. They got a few of each pack member's favorite flavor in case they got hungry at night before returning to the nest, setting the box in its usual spot.

While it had started out bad, Krolia believed the visit had turned out rather well for Keith and his friends.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr legendary-marmorans!


End file.
